Week 9 - Healthier Me Challenge
Greetings To All,
For the rest of this year, I'll be writing weekly posts, of my Healthier Me Challenge!
In each of the posts, I'll be sharing a variety of things: my weekly goals; new recipes; excerpts from books I'm reading; and a few mental obstacles that I'm fighting, to name a few. My hope, is that as I share my journey, I will encourage, inspire and motivate others to reach their Best Self!!!
Weekly Goals:
Instead of focusing on words like "can't", "don't" and "bad", I decided to make some changes. So, each week, I'll adopt a healthier habit, and eliminate an unhealthy habit. It can be anything! The only rule is to adopt AND eliminate!
Week #9
Healthy Habit to Adopt: 45-60 min. walking 4-5x a week
Unhealthy Habit to Eliminate: soda, chips, candy
Update:
OH HAPPY DAY!!!
Well, with the exception of having Clint Eastwood appear on my post, last week was a dismal one, in terms of sticking to my health challenge. So I awakened today and decided to wipe the slate clean! New York had experienced some Spring-like weather recently, but that is all but a memory.....over the weekend, temps dropped to 17 degrees!!! So I guess today is considered a heat wave....23 degrees when I awakened. Yep, time to bring out the shorts!!!
But I actually tend to prefer colder weather than warmer weather.....let me rephrase that: if I had to choose between extreme cold over extreme heat, I would much prefer extreme cold. Many of my friends consider me a freak, but it's true. So, despite the ridiculously low temperature, it wasn't difficult for me to get up and get moving!
This is not my dog (I don't have one), nor is it anybody's dog that I know.....despite the frigid weather, it was a beautifully sunny day! Yet, for some reason, even though I was outside for over an hour, the only picture I took was of my sneakers and my weight wrist bands.....my sneakers and my weight wrist band.....I'm sitting at my kitchen table as I write this, and the sun is just shinning bright, mocking me. "You fool!", it snickers, in between dispensing sparkling rays of sunshine. Yes, the sun has it's darker side.....
So.....7,963.....not the number of people following me (not yet), nor does it represent the amount of commission I received this morning (not yet). These are the number of steps taken, and I've walked 77 minutes!!! The app that I use calculated that I should be walking 6,000 steps every day, which comes to a little less than an hour.
I often reach that goal very easily, and I'll get a badge (love those badges) and a "Awesome!" or "Way to go!" message. But, woe is me, should I fail to reach that that target.....let's just say, if my phone could virtually slap me, it wouldn't hesitate to do so.....
I my previous post, I wondered how I had "fallen off the wagon", but, truth be told, I already know how: I didn't honor my commitment to myself. That may seem harsh, but the truth has to be told. I had decided to eliminate certain foods, not for eternity, but just for a short time, because I knew that I had to do something drastic. But, to keep me from going overboard, I eliminated a little bit each week. Seemed like a fool-proof plan, right? Wrong!!!
Somewhere along the way, I made what I call, little "allowances". "Oh, I can have that, it's just a small bag of chips. It's better than the large one I usually have." "Well, at least I ate that before 7 pm, so I should be OK." Or, my favorite, "I'll just walk it off."
In all that we do, we have to allow for some flexibility, but we also have to hold fast to the commitments we made to ourselves.
Lesson Learned: I can make excuses, or I can make a commitment to success, but I can't make both!
Strive to Thrive,
Veronica
Recent Comments
22
Very awesome what you are achieving Veronica .. and WOW 9 weeks .. go girl! Cheers, William.
Go Twin! You're good at your exercise this week, that's great. That's probably way more steps that I've taken so good on you. Yes, sometimes we fall off the wagon, but it's good you recognized and made the necessary changes to keep improving yourself. That is awesome which makes YOU awesome!
Keep it up!
Grace
Well done Veronica, inspiring you will be feeling really good really enjoyed reading your post thank you.
Thats an amazing goal and a great idea i will be reading your previous 8 weeks later today and i wish you the best of luck going forward with your health.
Hi Veronica,
I really don't understand why people like the cold!! It makes no sense to me, I would rather have the heat!! I can function much better. Just to let you know, I'm back on my yoga schedule...YEA!!! Not to make a pun, but flexibility is all a part of a health body and mind.
Thanks for the update and the inspiration. Keep up the good work.
Have a great week, take care my friend.
Mary
I'm not a lover of extreme cold, but I can take that over extreme heat. I'm usually like the Grinch during the Summer!
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I had to laugh! I think us bigger than we want to be people have all the excuses in the world. But unfortunately, that's what keeps us being bigger than we want to be.
Weekends are my biggest problem. During the week I keep pretty much to my schedule but at the weekends I am, let's just say, SLACK! I won't tell you my excuses but they are along the same lines as yours and the worst thing is my results aren't forthcoming.
But, we battle on. We may lose the battles but we will win the war. I can see victory in sight by the end of this year then hopefully the daily maintenance battles will be easier and I don't want to get back those habits I have worked so hard to lose.
"Bigger Than We Want" People....that's too funny, Michael!!!
BTWW People - you may have coined the next "it" phrase!
You never know what the next big hit will be, lol !